Through Another's Eyes
by LigerJager
Summary: ::Reposted::It all started with one stupid, measly, nauseatingly painful headache. Now he's seeing things. Lots of things and…some things he wasn't supposed to see.
1. Mornings and Migraines

**Through Another's Eyes**

By

LigerJager

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

* * *

Chapter 1: Mornings and Migraines

* * *

It was a beautiful day in Konoha. The sky was clear, the air crisp and clean and the vegetation was a vibrant emerald green and quite healthy. Every inhabitant that was not on duty took time to appreciate the weather that graced them. Many were indeed taking full advantage of it and enjoying themselves.

Well, almost everyone.

Naruto felt another headache coming on. This was the second time today that something triggered it and each time things became worse…and it was still early morning.

He was starting to see with something he could only describe as a type of double vision, coupled with transparent overlays of what looked to be a somewhat different, darker feeling Konoha outside his bedroom window.

The blond rolled out of his tangled sheets and let his feet dangle off the side of the small bed as he sat in the edge. It wasn't pleasant to groggily wake up to a pulsating pain, which had thankfully died down after a few minutes of agony. He cracked open one of his blurry, sleep filled eyes as the morning's first rays pierced through his small window.

Whatever he saw wasn't a dream, it seemed too real. In fact he knew, without a doubt, it wasn't one.

He was quite sure that he wasn't going insane, or 'losing any marbles' as Iruka-sensei put it, nor was he heading towards early senility. Perhaps it was a side effect from eating too much ramen…but this never happened before.

Plus his headaches were worse than usual and unusually sensitive with what triggered them. Not that anyone could tell because he hid them quite well. His jolly, super-over-the-top-it's-beyond-sane-happy attitude was usually an act to cover the nasty headache he was sporting at that moment.

If anyone cared to notice they would have sensed that there were times when he was louder than the norm…if he hadn't blown their eardrums off yet. For Naruto those subtle changes in behavior were a result of an exceptionally painful sensory overload that day.

There was something he couldn't understand. Why was this happening to him of all people? Also what exactly was he seeing? It definitely wasn't the present day Konoha and each time he saw it he somehow had a felt of perpetual tension as though something was in the air and just waiting to happen.

Naruto put his face in hands and began to massage his temples. After a bit he rubbed his eyes and peered out into this dimly lit room. He thought over the emotions and feeling that he had picked up from his 'dream' or whatever it was.

Or was it anticipation? He hadn't decided nor did he want to dwell on it, especially because he became very uneasy when he did. It definitely felt as though the inevitable was on the horizon, threatening to break the peace that lay uneasily over that Konoha, as though war would soon come upon them.

Shaking his head he tried to clear his thoughts and fixed his classic smile in place. No one would have guessed that under the idiotic masquerade was the troubled visage of a lonely child blighted by a splitting headache that nearly blinded his normal senses.

These blasted cerebral problems were helping in hindering his progress at the academy. Whatever he did must have really ticked off someone up there into tormenting him this way.

However he never pranked a shrine, temple or any other one of those kinds of establishments to his knowledge or recollection. Even he, an orphan, knew better than that. Maybe one of the innocent bystanders, who caught some of the crossfire, was a religious monk or something.

The Hokage-Ojiisan said they were migraines, but, from what he read, he had none of the symptoms that befit any one of the diagnosis he came across. Also he couldn't have several types of inflictions at once…could he? Naruto didn't know or care at the moment.

Of course he had to get one of these particular headaches on this day of all days, the very morning of his graduation exam.

The twelve year old preteen slowly slid off his bed, flinching as his feet landed on the icy cold hardwood floor. Letting his autopilot take over he made his bed and cleaned up a little around his rather small apartment.

After a while he heated up some water on his stove and took out what he normally ate for breakfast, a cup of instant ramen.

Had he stopped to analyze his current situation Naruto would have found a curious pattern in his cerebral induced misery. The fact of the matter truly being, that the times of reprieve between each onslaught were drastically decreasing.

With each attack the pain it was getting worse and by the hour's end he would have a grand total of five blissful minutes before something else would set it off.

The normally energetic boy absentmindedly took a look at the clock precariously perched on his wall next to his calendar, which had the days crossed off courtesy of his giant marker.

Noting the late hour he shot out of his musing and poured the now boiling water into his noodle cup before hurrying through his morning routine. The headache was growing again with a vengeance.

The demon container pushed the pain aside as much as he could in favor of rushing into the bathroom and frantically shuffling through the remains of his small medicine kit. After he found the aspirin, which only dulled the pain some of the time, he hastily performed his morning hygienic regimen and hopped into, consequently, the only clean clothes he had.

After shooting a deadly glare at his overflowing laundry basket and its soiled contents, He swung his orange jacket over his shoulders before bolting out the door with a steaming cup of instant ramen in his hands.

For as long as he could remember painful headaches, such as that which plagued him at the moment, had come and gone throughout his childhood. At first they were months apart, which gradually turned into weeks. Finally it became days and now decreased into hours.

As he sped over the roofs, having finished his cup a few leaps before, a particularly jarring landing almost made caused him to pass out. Biting back some colorful and very creative curses, Naruto took off at an even greater speed, the dull ache getting worse.

It seemed the pain relievers were not going to work this time around. Damn. Plus the daylight was only getting stronger and brutally reflected off of his vibrant clothing.

The blasted jumpsuit had so far only served to further aggravate his already throbbing head.

However beggars couldn't be choosers and he didn't do his laundry the night before so he'd just have to face the consequences for the time being and pray to Kami that the ache in his head would subside enough for him to concentrate.

He really needed to pass this year.

In spite of his well known mask, his self esteem and confidence wouldn't survive another failure. Heck, he couldn't even afford to have what the Uchiha seemed to produce naturally. Pride was a luxury for him.

He didn't even want to try and comprehend the possibility of taking another whole year of academy classes, not to mention they bored him out of his skull.

Though, that in itself was quite a feat because he was constantly having triggers set off. In fact the only thing that hadn't triggered his curse, as he came to call it, was Iruka-sensei's lectures and shouts of frustration. Actually he would sometimes set off his scar faced teacher just to make whatever pain he was feeling at the moment, subside.

It was kind of ironic and funny at the same time. Whenever his painkillers didn't work, which was quite often, Iruka's verbal reprimands always seemed do the trick…much to the chuunin's ire and misfortune.

The aforementioned building of torment by extreme boredom appeared only a few blocks away, it wouldn't be very long.

Ignoring the impact of his landing, though it nearly brought him to his knees, he raced through the front doors and the well worn halls of the old building.

After the final turn, second door on the right after three flights of stairs later, he came barreling through the door creating a huge ruckus in his wake and interrupting his sensei during his lecture.

Loudly announcing, "Did I miss anything?"

* * *

_::Tsuzuku::_

* * *

A/N: This fict was dreamt up around October 2007, but that's neither here nor there.

I had a choice. Rewrite this or post as is. I posted as is.

However, I'm not completely content with the flow, so I decided that the next one will be written in a slightly different style. More like a marriage of what I think and what I write…or simply as growth of a fanfiction author.

Questions? Comments? Reviews?

Always appreciated.

LJ 7/10/2008


	2. Hapless and Happiness

**Through Another's Eyes**

By

LigerJager

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

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Chapter 2: Hapless and Happiness

* * *

"Did I miss anything?"

His chuunin instructor just deadpanned before answering. The obvious didn't really need to be stated.

"Just about the entire introduction of the exam, Naruto."

The class stared at him for a long moment. Silence and the awkwardness of the moment seemed to magnify as the blond began to fidget. It wasn't long before the children erupted en mass, shooting loud derogatory remarks and in general causing commotion that only tormented the blond more acutely.

Naruto felt as though pressure was building in his skull. It made him uncomfortable and now, without the distraction of physical movement, the pain was only made more acute.

The noise level rose and was becoming unbearable. Naruto felt the pounding in his head more keenly with every second. For a moment his mask slipped and all color vanished from his tan skin. It was only for a brief instant before he was back and as loud as ever, none of the students caught it.

Or at least he hoped none of them caught it. He had a reputation to uphold and since they took a lifetime to build and only seconds to destroy…he didn't even want to think about the aftermath should that happen.

Iruka barely caught the unhealthy pallor out of the corner of his eye and filed it away to review later. For the time being he'd concentrate on the task at hand and quickly quieted his class. It had taken the chunin a few moments to come out of his shock at the interruption as his concentration was derailed.

But taking those moments had allowed him to see what he otherwise wouldn't have. To know that all was not well with his troubled student.

Naruto took an empty seat while the older male finished his explanations for the graduation exam. He chose the back of the class in the darkest and quietest corner and buried his head in his hands, trying to desperately ignore the people around him.

No one gave him more than a passing glance anyways. After all they had more important things on their mind than the class clown, like passing the evaluation exam.

The volume of the class had only been amplified by each agonizing throb of his pounding headache. Had his sensei not acted when he did, Naruto was quite sure he would have done the most embarrassing thing he ever had in his life.

Had the noise continued he would have probably done the one thing he had promised himself that he wouldn't do outside of his lonely apartment after almost eight years.

He would have cried.

The pain that had been reaching almost unbearable levels, when he finally sat down, lessened as the quietness continued. It was all he could do to keep an upright walk that didn't sway or make him look drunk as he made his way up the steps. He couldn't afford to show weakness, not in front of his peers, he wouldn't live it down.

He was in such frail state, though no one would ever know, that it took all of his learned will power to keep from cracking. His stress had been compounded by everything that life seemed to throw at him.

He had to pass on this day. He just had to.

He was at the point where just one more trial, no matter how small or large, would be the straw that finally broke the camel's back. It could have been an insult, a shove, or a simple glare.

Anything.

And it would have been enough. He was tired. He was in pain and suffering. He was ignorant and unfocused.

He just wanted hope. Hope that things would get better. That he would have a future. That he would have some kind of purpose.

Some kind of relief from the hostility that plagued him daily.

He could talk loud and proud all he wanted. He could shout until he was blue in the face, which he'd done. He could say that he wanted shoot for the stars, to grasp his future and take control of his life.

But that was all it was. Talk.

Naruto shut his eyes in an attempt to capture a few blissful moments of sleep without the pain. It was the only escape he knew of that was within reach as Iruka was administering the exams and he didn't trust the class to not torment him further with noise if he did something.

Nothing else crossed his mind as he tried to imitate Shikamaru. It hurt too much to think.

That was how he stayed, uncharacteristically quiet during the entire part of the morning where the first half of the class was called in for preliminary testing.

…As well as through lunch.

…And the early part of the afternoon.

Hardly anyone noticed. And those who did, didn't think much of it. After all Naruto was Naruto and no one really contemplated him, it was a waste if they did.

For his part, Naruto was trying to nap. He'd left the remains of his aspirin, which he was beginning to suspect being nothing more than sugar pills, at the apartment complex so he was just trying to wing it.

For as long as he could remember, the blonde had been having attacks such as these, however this morning took the cake. Never had he thought that one would be this severe and that it would strike him on one of the most important days he ever had. It seemed that even his own body was conspiring against him.

With a sigh he moved to find a more comfortable position before he was called up. The main testing started in the afternoon, around two, so he had a little time to rest up beforehand.

The preliminaries were a last check to make sure those testing were indeed ready for the graduation exam. Naruto had already passed his earlier, with flying colors, so today's results wouldn't affect him until later, when the real trials began.

…

Shikamaru was having an otherwise unremarkable day. And normally he would have been just fine with that…however, there was a mystery afoot and it begged his attention.

How he loathed it. And the loss of his perfect morning.

And the blame could solely be found in one person. And he was the only one who ever managed to ruin his otherwise trouble free days just by showing up…excluding his mother of course.

The sleepy genius grimaced as his mental faculties were pushed into overdrive. It wasn't a terribly big mystery. In fact, the solution was anything but urgent. However, that didn't stop his interest from being piqued. And once a Nara had their attention focused, nothing short of a solution would satisfy that.

And that was the annoying part of the situation.

This was Uzumaki Naruto he was contemplating and that should have spoken volumes in and of itself. A simpleton, who was a brat to most everyone, ate nothing but ramen and was a certified idiot on other things.

Or was there something more going on there that he had yet to see?

He wasn't ignorant or foolish enough to ignore the behavior of the prankster. How could he when it was glaringly obvious that the troublemaker wasn't acting normal…for him anyways.

And the moment where the other boy simply turned white as a sheet. Anyone with eyes could tell that he was suffering from…something.

Sickness perhaps?

Mentally grumbling, the lazy genius went through a mental check list. All the while he was bemoaning the fact that his valuable time could be spent elsewhere doing something far more productive…like sleeping.

So in the face of not one but two monumental decisions, the Nara genius to the avenue that appealed to ihim most…and would cause him the least bit of pain. As it turned out, he just ducked his head in his arms and dozed. The mystery that was Naruto could wait another day.

It was a few hours before they would be called for the final practical anyways. With that in mind, the class brain took a nap.

And Naruto, had he noticed, would have been thankful. But then again, he took a page from the Nara's book and joined him in blissful slumber. Besides, Iruka Sensei always saved him for last. What harm could there be with a nap?

Strangely enough, it didn't register with the jinchuuriki that his head wasn't hurting at the moment.

* * *

_::Tsuzuku:: _

* * *

A/N: I know, a terrible way to end the chapter. But here it is, after a year of pounding away at the writers block that crippled it before it started, Chapter 2 (*throws confetti around*)!

Until Next Time.

LJ 1/19/2009


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